The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: DVD Review

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Warner Home Video

Steve Carell stars as Burt Wonderstone in this comedy about a magician duo (teaming up with Steve Buscemi as his partner) who have ruled the Las Vegas scene for years. The pair were childhood friends and have been performing for years but Burt's ego and arrogance is raging out of control.

When a street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey in dialled down mode) shows up, their act begins to seem rather stale - and when they're fired by the casino operator (James Gandolfini) the duo split and Burt hits rock bottom.

But, after a chance meeting with a childhood hero (Alan Arkin) he sets out to rediscover his love of magic and recapture his crown.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a little bit of a mess to be honest.

Tonally all over the place, it starts off as broad comedy masquerading as a family film, goes a bit darker before becoming totally predictable and utterly unoriginal. Carell's good as Wonderstone and elicits some laughs but he's never quite convincing enough; Carrey is dark as the street magician but manages to muddle his way through to his trademark gurning - and Olivia Wilde, who plays the love interest is charming enough but underused. Alan Arkin brings his trademark acerbic delivery and Gandolfini's pleasant enough, but the whole film feels like a muddle of styles and loses its way with its message.

Is The Incredible Burt Wonderstone magic? Not entirely, which given the calibre of cast, is a real shame.

Extras: Gag reel

Rating: